Why Remake Straw Dogs?

Miami.com’s Rene Rodriguez on Straw Dogs:

I saw Rod Lurie’s Straw Dogs (due out Sept. 16) this morning and was immediately struck by two things: 1) The film is practically identical to Sam Peckinpah’s original, yet feels completely different (this is easily Lurie’s best work as a director); and 2) the violence isn’t nearly as shocking in 2011 as it was in 1971, but it doesn’t feel as cathartic or rousing as I expected. Instead, the mayhem felt vaguely depressing – a graphic, bloody depiction of the loss of humanity.

Pauline Kael famously referred to Peckinpah’s movie as a “fascist film,” but I doubt she would say the same about Lurie’s version, which boasts a much less graphic rape sequence and still-gory but swift violence that Lurie’s camera doesn’t linger on. I’ve been asking around lately and haven’t found a single person outside of movie critics and film buffs who has seen Straw Dogs: Peckinpah, I think, did a little too good a job at making sure his film was an unpleasant experience.

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